Your resume is a vital. There are no short cuts and no generic templates that make preparing a resume quick or easy. Everybody, regardless of the stage of their career, needs a current resume close at hand, ready to respond to a great opportunity or unexpected changes in circumstances.

Don't waste paper with a cover sheet. List your name and contact details at the top of the first page, including your postal address and a telephone contact number. Include your email address.
It is no longer usual to include details under headings such as gender, age, marital status, religion, ethnicity or health. If any of the factors are relevant and an employer has an exemption to discriminate on these grounds, mention the appropriate information in your cover letter.

The best resumes are brief and informative. As a general rule, include the most detail about your current job. If you've been in the workforce for some period of time, simply list the position, company and dates of your earlier or least relevant jobs. You are not obliged to list every job you've ever had, but the jobs you list should be relevant to the position you are seeking.
Try to illustrate a logical pattern of career development in your account of your work experience. If you have "downsized" your career or moved sideways, you may wish to include a brief reference to the circumstances, which motivated your move.

Make a decision whether the companies you have worked for are more important than your job titles. The most important information should go first, followed by the job title on a new line. Align the dates against the right-hand margin to save room. Make sure you maintain a consistent style to allow for quick scanning and comprehension.
For instance:
Content Editor
Seek Communications Mar 98-ongoing

Don't just describe your duties and responsibilities. Emphasise achievements where you have gone "above and beyond" the call of duty, and show how you contributed to your employer's business. Carefully consider how you can quantify your achievements and relate your actions to business goals and achievements.
For example:
" Fielded up to 20 customer service calls a day, identifying and providing solutions for customers, decreasing their stress and anxiety and ensuring repeat customers for a retail travel agency".

In some cases there won't be a quantitative measure of your achievements. Find other ways to show your contribution.
For example:
" Conducted a production inventory and calculated costs as a consultant to an oven distributor; findings led to a shift in the purchasing strategy".

There may not have been a problem in the first place. You did however initiate an action and get a result.
For example:
" As a self-employed contractor, set up databases for organisations that lead to increased productivity for sales reps"

The level of detail depends on the balance between your qualifications and your work experience. It may be suitable for graduates with little experience to list selected classes and to include results if these are better than average (or requested). As a general guide, the less recent your qualification, the less information you provide. A typical format lists the name of the qualification, the date you graduated, the institution that granted it and your major.
For example:
BA, 1991, University of New South Wales
Major: History

Begin with the highest level of educational achievement. You can leave out details about high school if you have a higher degree or qualification.

The education section usually follows the employment details unless you are recently graduated or you are pursuing an academic position where your educational achievements are more relevant.

It is increasingly uncommon for past employers to provide written references. Instead, a new employer will want the names and contact details of referees — people who know you well and can be contacted to check the details in your resume.

Choose your referees carefully. You must gain someone's agreement before listing him or her as a referee. A new employer generally won't contact referees until they have selected a preferred candidate — or if they are trying to decide between two candidates.

A good resume is as brief as possible. Only include items listed below if they will truly strengthen your application.

Professional training
Professional affiliations and memberships
Licences and accreditations
Knowledge of foreign languages
Publications
Special accomplishments such as awards
Interests

Ideally, tailor your resume for each application you submit. Every job is unique and requires a different mix of skills and experience. Don't focus your resume on what you want. Instead, understand the needs and problems facing the employer. Research the company and industry to work out what problems and challenges the company faces. If you are responding to an advertised vacancy, read the ad closely to identify what issues or problems the successful candidate needs to solve. Next, go through your work history, retrieving the skills and experience most relevant to this employer and position. Summarise or leave out those parts of your work history that won't help you get the job. Essentially, you are emphasising some skills and achievements and de-emphasising others. Don't lie.

As part of this process, give some thought to what tone to use in your application. For example, aggressively selling yourself may suit a high-powered sales role. A graphic artist might want to develop a resume that reflects their creativity.

Once you have written the resume be sure to get somebody whom you trust to read it. An objective opinion can help improve your resume, but keep in mind that there are many different ideas about the ideal presentation. Weigh advice carefully.